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Venezuela (2019 onwards)

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Venezuela. The political crisis in the country flared up as Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the interim president.

Addressing the UN Security Council, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza demanded the proof of the election fraud, the United States and its allies claimed. He repeatedly recalled that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is a legitimate head of state.

Presenting the Trump administration’s case on Venezuela before the United Nations Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo minced no words calling out Cuba as the foreign power meddling in Venezuela and propping up what Pompeo called the “illegitimate mafia state” of Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Noting the protracted humanitarian crisis that has forced more than three million Venezuelans to flee the country and relegated those who remain to starvation — without basic utilities and services and no hope for economic prosperity — Pompeo posed an ultimatum for the UN’s member nations.

“Either you stand with the forces of freedom,” he said, “or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the U.S. of a long history of meddling in other nations’ politics, citing as examples the U.S.-financed Nicaraguan rebels and the Iran Contra Affair, the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, and the overthrow of Chile’s former Marxist leader, Salvador Allende.

“Venezuela is just another chapter in the U.S.’s long history of meddling,” Nebenzia said.

Bernie Sanders acknowledges 'economy is a disaster' in Venezuela, urges US not to intervene too strongly
Fox News

Vermont Independent and self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders acknowledged on Thursday that the 'economy is a disaster' in Venezuela, but cautioned against U.S. involvement in the socialist county's affairs and condemned what he called "inappropriate" previous interventions that some have blamed for the country's crisis.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning over the backing of the Washington and many Latin American nations and prompting socialist Nicolas Maduro to break relations with the United States.

Speaking to supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, socialist leader Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave Venezuela, which is suffering from a hyperinflationary economic collapse.

U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Guaido shortly after his announcement and praised his plan to hold elections. That was swiftly followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela's neighbors Brazil and Colombia.

And despite the nation's economic crisis, Maduro welcomed the deployment of two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers. The Russian aircraft, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, landed in Caracas last month in a move designed to show Moscow's support of Venezuela's socialist regime. The Pentagon swiftly criticized the Russian deployment of warplanes to Venezuela.

Maduro has as well as other allies in the Region as well as outside. Cuba, already under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, a close Partner, said the autocrat of his support.

Venezuela’s biggest creditor is China. Since 2008, the leadership invested in Beijing in infrastructure and oil Projects. Official Figures are not available. According to estimates, China will have invested more than 70 billion dollars in Venezuela. The country pays its debt to the industry intelligence Bloomberg, mostly with oil Supplies, tens of billions should, however, be still open. In September of last year, the governments of Maduro and China’s Xi Jinping signed new contracts.

Vladimir Putin (R), Russian President, Xi Jinping, President of China

The Kremlin supports Venezuela’s military as well as billions of credits. The reason is the geo-strategic importance in the Western hemisphere, as it were, “on the doorstep” of the USA, country located. Russian state companies have invested heavily in the mineral-rich country and no interest in a change of government that could interfere with your business relationships.

Moscow sent in the past, several long-range bombers to Caracas, most recently in mid-December, two nuclear-capable Tu-160 supersonic bomber. Under Chávez, Venezuela’s armor had sourced goods from Russia and this, in part, with Oil paid. Maduro has difficulties to pay the approximately $ 17 billion in debt to Russia. In search of money and protection, has made Venezuela from Russia and China.

Turkey and Iran: Erdogan holds up to Maduro, Tehran

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his admiration for Maduro never tried to hide. And in the current situation of solid he is linearized with him. “Maduro, brother, stay strong, we are with you,” he said. “We are Maduro”, which became a Trend on Twitter in Turkey. Erdogan and Maduro, a similar policy combines understanding: Both of them are in the West, as autocrats decried that have undermined the Opposition press and the rule of law.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Under Maduro’s predecessor, Chavez has been Venezuela’s closest foreign policy ally of Iran outside of the Islamic world – and has remained so until today. Ideologically, both regimes share an aggressive Anti-Americanism. Quite handy they have a common interest in high Oil prices, both economies are largely Petro-exports.

Both governments have closed in the past 15 years, hundreds of bilateral agreements, including on military cooperation. In addition, both countries established a joint Bank, which is suspected to serve Tehran in the circumvention of international sanctions. Also, the Iran-financed and highly armed Hezbollah militia have long been set in Venezuela and the country, among other things, money laundering.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Private military contractors who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela in the past few days to beef up security for President Nicolas Maduro in the face of U.S.-backed opposition protests, according to two people close to them.

Yevgeny Shabayev, leader of a local chapter of a paramilitary group of Cossacks with ties to Russian military contractors, said he had heard the number of Russian contractors in Venezuela may be about 400.

As a standoff hardens in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas between U.S. diplomats and the country’s “illegitimate” president, Nicolas Maduro, experts say security at the American Embassy may become a critical issue if the situation in the streets goes from bad to worse.

“The U.S. embassies are considered U.S. enclaves, so the biggest impact could be the jettison of local foreign nationals who work inside could probably be forced to leave,” he said. “Along with the perimeter guard force. U.S. personnel in the embassy are likely allowed, or limited to travel, to and from the embassy, but are probably not permitted right now to travel outside Caracas.”

Rasmussen also highlighted the security risk 'definitely increases” with demands and threats like those issued by Maduro. “And from the perspective of the Venezuelans, they will suffer because consular services will be either be eliminated or cut back, so trying to get a visa or seek asylum could be next to impossible to achieve,”

Caracas-based journalist Noris Argotte noted there is always a group of Marines and military attaches guarding the compound, but noted all embassies in Caracas also use a team of local Venezuelan police and military officers to “support the security.” That's typically the case with diplomatic missions around the world.

After their incursions into Georgia and Crimea for non-humanitarian purposes, Russia can take its warning and shove it. That China, Russia, and Iran's leadership support Maduro reinforces the statement in the U.S. National Security Security that today's competition is fundamentally between those who support a free and open internal order and those who seek to impose authoritarian models (China, Russia, Iran, ISIS). Unfortunately, during the early years of the Cold War, the CIA engaged in activites that undermined our credibility as a nation that stood for democratic values and human rights in Latin America. Although the U.S. has learned from those misadventures, distrust lingers on, which will hamper our ability to dominate the narrative if we intervene. Obama's don't do stupid stuff was not a strategy, but it was prudent guidance that should frame future actions. In simple terms, maintaining the high moral ground equates to greater freedom of movement. We have the high moral ground, but are somewhat limited by immoral actions that occcurred decades ago. Step one, regain legitimacy to act with the people in the region by pushing the narrative that this is really is based on promoting freedom, human rights, and averting a humanitarian disaster that China and Russia willingly support.